Devices of the type are known from, e.g., DE 37 30 017 C1, DE 42 11 765 C2 or also DE 201 06 519.3 U1. The devices described in these documents are used essentially to press out wheel bearings pressed into a bearing bore of a motor vehicle axle or so-called silent bearings of an axle carrier of a motor vehicle. The feature common to them is that, on the one hand, a support bell or support frame is provided, which is supported in the circumferential area of the bearing bore during the pressing-out operation. A pressure piece, whose dimensions are adapted to the component to be pressed out and to the bearing bore such that is can be operatively positioned to the component or into the bearing bore at the beginning of the pressing-out operation in a centered manner, is used on the side of the bearing bore located axially opposite this support bell. The pressure piece and the support bell as well as the spindle drives extending through the component to be pressed out can be considered for use as pressing devices, as they are described in the documents mentioned.
On the other hand, stationary, so-called upright stand presses, which are disclosed especially in DE 201 06 519.3 U1, are also used as pressing devices. If it is necessary to work directly at the vehicle, a so-called pressing frame is used as the pressing device, which is provided with a hydraulic cylinder and a pressing screw, by means of which the pressure piece is pressed into the axially opposite support bell together with the component to be pressed out through the bearing bore. Such a pressing frame has a design essentially identical to that of a stand press, but its dimensions are smaller, so that it can be handled manually at the vehicle.
It was found that especially when they are used directly at the vehicle, the prior-art devices cannot be operatively positioned satisfactorily to the bearing bore or the bearing eye surrounding the bearing bore. Furthermore, axle constructions have also become known in which the component to be pressed out is provided with a circumferentially extending stop web, by which the depth to which these components are pressed in during the pressing in of these components into the bearing bore is defined. It may also happen in the case of such components with such a stop web that the support surface available for supporting the support bell at the bearing eye is not completely circumferentially extending, so that the support bell cannot be supported at the bearing eye over the full circumferential area. The consequence of this is, in turn, that the support bell is tilted during the operative positioning or mounting and especially during the subsequent clamping operation and the support bell and/or the support surface of the bearing eye is thus damaged. In addition, a defined pressing out of such a component is possible now only conditionally, because the supporting is no longer concentric with the component to be pressed out, and damage to the pressing may device may thus occur as well. The pressing-out forces also do not act concentrically with the central longitudinal axis of the bearing eye any longer in case of tilting of the support bell, so that considerably stronger forces are necessary.